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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAnnRpt2007-emergency management EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT (2007) Jeffrey J. Coco, Director John J. Coco, Deputy Director Co-Deputy Directors: Richard M. Stanley, Police Chief William V. Dolan, Fire Chief Richard C. Boettcher, Commanding Officer Auxiliary Police John P. Savastano, Senior Operations Officer William Hastings, Senior Communications Officer EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT 2006 was a challenge for Emergency Management, the Police department, Fire department and Department of Public Works due to two significant natural events. The first event was the February windstorm, a microburst down draft, which damaged several dwellings and toppled many trees. The second event was the May flood, which affected the majority of our community. I would like to commend the response of this agency's divisions: Operatiions, headed by John Savastano, Communications, headed by William Hastings and Auxiliary police Commanded by Sergeant Richard Boettcher. Their dedicated response during this natural disaster helped ease a cumbersome burden places on public safety and our citizen during and after this event. A special note of thanks to our dedicated fire, police, public works, health and inspectional services departments, whose efforts in the line of duty and above and beyond, helped minimize the impact upon our town. The Board of Selectmen, Town Manager's office and every municipal department played key roles in helping our community through this difficult period. Above all, thank you to the citizens of our town who displayed a level of compassion and caring for their neighbor, that is unrivalled in any community. During September our Communications and Operations divisions again supported the annual Merrimack Valley Elders Walk for life through North Andover. This operation was successfully completed without incident. Our RACES communicators continue to support monthly communications tests with MEMA to maintain communications proficiency and readiness in event of emergencies. We also conduct weekly testing of our primary communications to insure readiness during emergency situations. The RACES and Auxiliary Police as well as the Emergency Management operations staff contribute countless hours of voluntary services to the town in support of any events that may require communications coverage or crowd control and public safety assistance during incidents. We continue to recruit operations officers and RACES communicators holding valid Radio Amateur Licenses from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). We are also on the lookout for volunteers to join our Auxiliary Police group. Auxiliary Police candidates must be over the age of 21 and able to pass a background investigation conducted by our local police department. All town residents meeting these criteria are eligible to apply regardless of race, sex or creed. Interested individuals may contact the undersigned at any time. As always our thanks to the many town boards and departments including Town Manager, Mr. Mark Rees, the Finance Board, Honorable Board of Selectmen, DPW, Police, and Fire departments who can always be depended on to support our efforts including all MEMA exercises and real emergencies that may arise. My personal thanks to Deputy Director John Coco, the Emergency Management Operations Staff, headed by John Savastano, the Communications staff, headed by William Hastings and the RACES communicators and the Auxiliary police, headed by Sgt. Richard Boettcher. Without your dedicated support and all the voluntary service you provide to our community, our agency could not support our community. I greatly appreciate your time and effort. We lament the loss of communication office Robert Wilson, who passed away in January 2007. Bob's dedicated spirit and willingness to help will be missed by all who knew him. Respectfully Submitted Jeffrey J. Coco We are happy with our communications links at both the Boston Hill and Holt Hill repeaters. We thank Mr. Benjamin Farnum for his continued support allowing us the use of Boston Hill for one of the repeaters and we are indebted to Andover Emergency Management director/Police Chief for his allowing the use an antenna and our alternate repeater on Holt Hill in Andover. The placement of these two repeaters and antennas allows us a fairly large communication coverage of the town. The RACES and Auxiliary Police as well as the Emergency Management Senior staff contribute countless hours of voluntary services to the town in support of any events that may require communications coverage or crowd control. We are planning on adding an additional three Auxiliary police to our cadre during 2003 to bring it up to strength. We continue to recruit RACES communicators holding valid Radio Amateur Licenses from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). We are also on the lookout for volunteers to join our Auxiliary Police group. Auxiliary Police candidates must be over the age of 21 and able to pass a background investigation conducted by our local police department. All town residents meeting this criteria are eligible to apply regardless of race, sex or creed. Interested individuals may contact the undersigned at any time. As usual our thanks to the many town boards and departments including Town Manager, Mr. Mark Rees, the Finance Board, Honorable Board of Selectmen, Police, Fire, and Highway departments who can always be depended on to support our efforts including all MEMA exercises and real emergencies that may arise. My personal thanks to Mr. William Hastings and the Emergency Management Senior Staff for always being counted on when needed. Also the RACES communicators, Sgt. Richard Boettcher and the Auxiliary Police for all the voluntary services they provide to our community. I greatly appreciate your support.